Industrial railway track



April 8, 1930. G. D. BALDWIN 1,753,327

INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY TRACK Filed April 23, 1929 Patented Apr. 8, 1930PTENT OFFIC GEORGE D. BALDWIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY TRACK Application filed April 23, 1929. Serial No.357,366.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad tracks and, inparticular, to improvements in industrial railroad tracks by whichmoving and relaying are facilitated.

In industrial railway plants it is often nec essary to lay out railroadspurs to many dif ferent parts of the plant in order to accomplish themovement of material, machinery and products. Due to changing conditionsand abandonment or construction of new equipment and buildings, it isoften necessary to move the railroad tracks at frequent intervals.Formerly, this movement and relaying have been a laborious and slowprocess, necessitating a great amount of labor and time with the resultthat it is very expensive. Under the former methods it was necessary toremove the spikes and rails from the ties, dig up the ties and thenrelay them in the desired position. In relaying the track in this mannerit is necessary to again carefully line the to fit together with anyother part of a simi- V ties then line and gauge the rails and refastenthe rails to the ties with spikes. Both of these processes require largegangs of laborers and considerable time to complete the process.

Further it will be readily seen that by frequently removing the spikesfrom the ties and again respikin the rails to the ties in their newposition, tlIe ties become useless in a short time due to the resultingmutilation of the wood. This necessitates the replacement of the tieswith new ones. This then adds a large expense to the cost of therelaying of tracks.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to eliminate thedisadvantages stated above. A further object is to make a track which iseasily and simply moved in a short period of time with little labor.Another object is to obtain a rigid simple structure which may be laidand moved many times and also a structure in which the separate partsare adapted lar structure. Further objects and advantages of myinvention will appear in the fol lowing description and drawings inwhich Figure 1 is an assembled plan view of my apparatus; V

Figure 2 is a plan View of a section of my apparatus;

Figure 3 is a cross section taken at 3 8' of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a modifiation of a fastening element of my structure.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which like referencecharacters represent like parts, rails 1 of the conventional type arefastened to the ties 2 and 2. These ties do not each extend completelyacross the spaced rails, but extend only to the middle portion betweenthe rails 1 as shown at 3, Fig. 3, thus acting as short separate ties 2and 2 under each rail. The ends of the ties 2 between the rails arefastened together by means of a longitudinally extending angle iron 4.Similarly the ends of the ties 2' are fastened together by means ofalongitudinally extending angle iron .4. These angle irons extendparallel with the rails 1 and are fastened to the ties by means ofspikes or other fastenings 5 as shown. The flat vertical sides of theangle irons 4 and 4 are fastened together by means of the bolts 6. Thesebolts may be spaced at any desired interval and need not be placed inrelation to the position ofthe ties. i

In Figure 4 I have disclosed a modified form of fastening element bywhich the lon-. gitudinally extending angle irons 4 and 4' may be heldtogether. This fastening element consists of a clamp 7, the two sides ofwhich, 8 and 9, pass down over the vertical sides of the abuting angleirons 4 and 4. These two clamps are held together by means of a bolt 10.I q

In using my type of track the sections "as shown in Figure 2 may be madeup at some point distant from the place in which the track is to be usedor'it is of such a simple structure that it may be made up at the pointof use. The structure may be easily carried into place and laid so thatthe vertical faces of the angle irons 4 and 4 correspond and abut. Thebolts 6 may then be put into place drawing. the two vertical facessnugly together. The result is an exceeding rigid and rugged structure.

If it is desired to move and relay this track it is only necessaryto'unfasten the bolts 6 and lift the sections as shown in Figure 2 tothedesired new position, placing two sections side by side and rebolt. Dueto the angle irons 4 and 4 running along the ends of the ties 2 and 2and parallel with the rails 1, there is no chance for the ties to becomeloosened from the rails due to a pivoting action. On the contrary, asection, as shown in Figure 2 of my track, is in itself a rigidstructural unit. Further it can be seen that the position of the angleirons 4 and 4 and connecting bolts 6 is such that they are easilyaccessible to fasten or unfasten inasmuch as they are positioned abovethe ties. This feature also tends to keep the connecting bolts 6 orclamp from corroding due to continuous contact with the ground, and thusallows easy manipulation at all times.

The clamp 7 may be preferred as a fastener inasmuch as with this type ofarrangement it is unnecessary to have holes in the vertical faces of theangle irons 4 and 4, and also eliminates the necessity of making theholes in the opposite angle irons coincide in the laying of my track.However, in using the bolts 8 the angle irons 4 and 4 may be drilledwith bolt holes in many places to facilitate the coinciding of holes inopposite faces so that the bolts may be passed through.

It is unnecessary in using my track to have large gangs of laborers tolay, move and relay a track as is necessary in using the old type ofstructure.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that there are manymodifications of my structure. For example, it is not necessary that theends of the ties 2 and 2 should meet, but may on the other hand beplaced such that the opposite ties alternate. The members connecting theinner ends of the ties may be of the angle iron type shown in thedrawing, but they may be positioned so that they fit over the ends ofthe ties and may be fastened together by clamps extending over theirouter edges. Also the angle irons 4 and 4 may be L a U, I or other typeof beam structure.

Therefore, I do not wish to be limited by my specification and drawings,but only by the prior art and the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway track a longitudinal section comprising a rail,supporting members fastened to said rail, a rigid means connecting theends of said supporting members and adapted to be fastened to a similarmember.

2. A railway track comprising two corresponding sections having rails,abutting rigid means between said rails and parallel to them, supportingmembers fastened at their outer portion to said rails and at their innerportions to an abutting rigid means, and elements: for fastening saidabutting rigid means together.

3. A railway track divided longitudinally comprising fastened sectionseach having a rail, supporting members fastened to said rail,

a structural member fastened to the inner ends of said supportingmembers adapted to fasten and coincide with the structural memher inopposite section.

4. In a railway track having longitudinal sections, each comprising arail, supporting members fastened at their outer portion to said rail, arigid means fastened to the inner ends of the supporting members, andmeans for fastening two sections together.

5. In a railway track having longitudinal sections, each sectioncomprising a rail, supporting members fastened to said rail, and anangle iron member fastened to the inner ends of said supporting membersand extending parallel with said rail, said member having a verticalface adapted to be fastened to a similar member.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this22nd day of April, 1929.

GEORGE D. BALDWIN.

